Gaming Industry

Real-money games ban drove users to offshore platforms, survey shows

A CUTS survey finds offshore platforms gained sharply after India's real-money games ban, with their share of daily play rising to 42% and users spending more time on unregulated sites

Dream11 exits fantasy gaming, pivots to sports-entertainment platform

The redesigned platform will offer creator-led live match watch-alongs, features for fans to react and exchange comments in real time, and free-to-play fantasy sports

ED arrests WinZO founders over alleged money laundering; ₹505 crore frozen

ED claims gaming firm withheld players' funds after real-money gaming ban; company denies wrongdoing, says it operates with fairness and compliance

Most Indians now pay for online content; gaming leads in spending: Lumikai

Majority of Indians now pay for accessing content online with gaming dominating the pie in wallet share for payment size of over Rs 1,000, a survey has found, said a top official of the gaming and interactive content focused venture capital firm Lumikai. Lumikai Founder and Managing Partner Salone Sehgal told PTI that the survey covered around 3,000 mobile phone users across the country between September 2024 and September 2025. The report found that 80 per cent of those consumer bases use UPI for payments, and at least 40 per cent maintain three or four active subscriptions. She said the trend reveals that India's digitally native audience is young, data-hungry, and highly willing to pay. "We did a deep dive into where people are spending that time and what is the attention share and how does it slice. of course, social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, YouTube are a very dominant part of that but I think what was more interesting was that gaming attention share stands at about

SC asks govt to file comprehensive reply on pleas against online gaming law

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to file a comprehensive reply on petitions challenging an online gaming law which prohibits "online money games", and bars banking services and advertising related to them. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan was informed that the Centre has filed its reply on the interim prayer made in the pleas. "We want the Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Union to file a comprehensive reply to the main petition itself," the bench said. It said copy of the reply be served in advance to the advocates appearing for the petitioners and if they want to file any rejoinder, they may do so at the earliest. The bench posted the matter for hearing on November 26. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 is the first central legislation banning real-money online gaming, including fantasy sports and e-sports played for stakes and has faced challenges before the Delhi, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh high courts. Sen

Tech Wrap Oct 31: Samsung Wallet update, Resident Evil Requiem, Probuds N33

Samsung Wallet enables biometric UPI. Resident Evil Requiem pre-orders. Lava Probuds N33 launch. WhatsApp app on Apple Watch. Galaxy AI adds Gujarati language. Revamped Siri

Game developers to meet in Chennai for 17th IGDC meet in November

The 17th edition of IGDC will mark its Chennai debut from November 5-7, spotlighting India's growing $3.1-bn gaming industry and emerging regional ecosystems

Govt proposes national registry of online games under draft rules 2025

Draft rules propose a national registry of online games with mandatory registration under the Online Gaming Authority of India, with penalties for non-compliance

Electronic Arts to go private in record $55 billion leveraged buyout

The deal would rank as one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history, surpassing 2007's buyout of TXU Energy and other major buyouts of that decade including Toys 'R' Us and Hertz

Google revamps Play Store around AI, unified gaming experience: What's new

Google said the new Play Store is built entirely around the needs of the users, focused on curated content so they can spend less time searching and more time enjoying the content they love

Dream11 pivots to free-to-play, banks on ads and sponsorship revenue

Dream11 moves to a free-to-play model following a gaming ban, focusing on ads and sponsorships with 10 million daily users and partnerships with brands like Swiggy and Tata Neu

Gameskraft lays off 120 staff after real money gaming ban in India

Gameskraft has laid off 120 employees as the online gaming ban shutters its core real-money business, extending health cover till March 2026 and pledging re-hiring priority

SuperGaming's MaskGun crosses 100 mn downloads, raises $15 mn funding

Pune-based SuperGaming's first-person shooter MaskGun has crossed 100 million downloads worldwide as the studio secures $15 million in Series B funding backed by global investors

Krafton India to launch third edition of gaming incubator KIGI on Sept 20

Krafton India will open registrations for the third edition of its gaming incubator programme, KIGI, on September 20 to support local studios with funding, mentorship, and resources

From Super Mario to AI, transformative change comes to gaming industry

More than 40 years later, the appeal of console-based video games continues in an era of artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet

Dream11, Gameskraft, MPL among RMG firms losing unicorn status after ban

At least four RMG firms including Dream11, Games24x7, Gameskraft and MPL lost unicorn status after the gaming ban, while fintech players led the 11 new unicorns added in 2025

Acer Nitro V15 with 13th Gen Intel Core chip, Nvidia 50 series GPU launched

Starting at Rs 89,999, the Acer Nitro V 15 gaming laptop is powered by up to 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13620H processor, coupled with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 GPU

Zupee launches Studio short video platform after RMG ban in India

Zupee has launched Zupee Studio, a short video content platform with 1-3 min episodes, weeks after India banned all forms of real money gaming nationwide

UPI gaming spends fall 23% in August after ban on real money games

UPI gaming spends fell sharply in August with volumes down 23% and value down 26% after the Online Gaming Act banned real money games such as rummy, poker and fantasy sports

Nazara to publish Bodycam on Fortnite, its first launch on platform

Nazara Technologies will bring Bodycam to Fortnite as an island using UEFN with tactical gameplay, multiplayer modes and high-fidelity visuals for global audiences